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PDP Governors Ready to Pay New Minimum Wage – Dickson

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors have expressed their
readiness to pay the N30,000 minimum wage recently signed into law by
President Muhammadu Buhari.

PDP Governors

The Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum, Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa,
disclosed while speaking with reporters at the end of the forum’s
meeting which ended in the early hours of Friday in Abuja.

Mr Dickson said that the governors were ready to pay the new minimum
wage in order to alleviate the plight of workers in PDP-controlled
states.

He called on President Buhari to expedite the process for the
commencement of the payment of the new minimum wage by sending a bill to
the incoming National Assembly to review the revenue sharing formula of
the country.

“We are very eager as PDP governors to implement and pay the N30,000 minimum wage that the federal government announced.

“We want to do so to alleviate the plight of the long-suffering
Nigeria workers who have been underpaid for long and the workers who are
currently groaning in economic hardship as a result of what has gone
wrong with the economy since the All Progressives Congress (APC)
government took over.

“So, we call on the federal government to expedite the process of presenting a bill to that effect.
“Also we call for a review of the revenue sharing formula to
accommodate a fresh Revenue Allocation Formula in the country,” he said.

Mr Dickson also said that no PDP governor was involved in the alleged
diversion of local government money, adding that PDP states “do not
indulge in such reprehensible conducts”.

He called on the federal government to name the states involved in the act and the period covered.

“We dealt with the allegation of alleged diversion of local government
funds by state governments and we condemned it in very strong terms.

“We as governors on the platform of the PDP want to make it clear
that no PDP governor is involved in this allegation of diverting local
government funds for whatever purpose.

“In our case, the reverse is the case. It is the state governments
that have been supporting and subsidising funding for the local
government.

“So we call on the federal government and agency in charge to name
the state governments and tell us the date and the people who were in
charge as the time when this diversion took place,” he said.

Mr Dickson, on behalf of the opposition governors, expressed concern
over the alleged politicisation of security apparatus by the federal
government, especially in states not controlled by APC.

He said that such supported the growing call for the establishment of
state police as a response to the worsening security situation across
the nation.

“We believe also that this is the reason for the widespread insecurity.

“So we will take some of this issues up when we interact with the
President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, by tomorrow or whenever we see
him,” he stated.

The forum also condemned the shutdown and suspension of the operating
licence of DAAR Communications Plc by the National Broadcasting
Commission, describing it as an act of intolerance and repression
against the media.